Zoe Leonard’s (b. 1961) installation Analogue is a photo based installation that was exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in 2015. This work included a series of gridded photos separated into 25 chapters, totaling in 412 photos taken over the course of a decade. Beginning in the 1990’s, these photos captured the “disappearing [mom-and-pop] store fronts and neglected products” while representing the global circulation of merchandising and capitalism throughout the turn of the 20th century into the 21st. To continue with the theme of “obsolete technology”, Leonard used a 1940’s Rolleiflex camera with gelatin silver and chromogenic printing processes. The artist is using the documentation aspect of photography and combining it with a contemporary composition to provide the audience with a true but also engaging and conceptual experience.
I find this exhibition interesting because it consumes the entire room which parallels with physicality of globalization and circulation. Most of the photos in this installation include text, which requires the viewer to interact with the images as well as creating a connection to them. There is also comforting sense of nostalgia from seeing photos of old store fronts from iconic eras even though not everyone (including me) is old enough to remember them. The familiarity of a mom-and-pop business is a universal idea that is relevant to people all over the world and there is an importance and appreciation for the artists attempt to conserve those places.
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